Final post covering my Xmas and New Year walks. This one from New Years Day when we had the Prof’s better half, the lovely Laura, down to stay with us for a couple of days.
Even though (as Mark will no doubt point out when he comments) that there is plentiful blue sky around, in truth it was another mixed day of sunshine and heavy showers. Coupled with a strong wind it wasn’t really the weather to head to the higher mountains. A little disappointing as we and the Prof were hoping to show off some of our favourite routes to TLL.
Instead we chose one of our easier and less demanding classics, the round of Herrock, Rushock and Bradnor Hills from Kington Golf Course.
In the absence of higher mountains we’ve come to love this route. A mix of green, grassy fields and open heathland with some wide ranging views.
In truth, just as good a walk to “show-off” as the more mountainous ones.
It makes for a more sociable walk when you can all walk together rather than being constrained to a line on a narrow path.
The massive fields of Rushock Hill.
And its woolly tenants.
And of course a chance to walk on an actual standing piece of Offa’s Dyke. Major excitement.
In the end the weather looked so uncertain that we decided not to bother with Herrock Hill and took our new route to climb Bradnor Hill. Now rather sadly turned to a muddy mess by the passage of said woolly tenants.
Herrock Hill from Bradnor Hill.
When we had to abandon our trip to France we hoped for some clear sunny winter days and maybe some snow. In the end it was more brief snatches of sunshine in a pretty wet and gloomy few days. More than adequate compensation to spend some time with the family and some newly acquired members.
Not too bad a way to see off Xmas and bring in the New Year – lets all hope that this year we can finally see some return to normality.
Route Map (ignoring the little loop to Herrock Hill which we declined this time)
A short post for a short walk, albeit a different take on a classic couple of hills
We’ve found a parking spot near the small collection of houses (village would be over playing its hand) of Burlingjobb. A back door route onto the Kington Hills which can be busy, with parking a challenge on weekends and holidays.
The steep climb up the south ridge of Hanter Hill is a lung burster of packed contours. You can see the burn zone from the fire back in the summer in the photo above.
It was a grey and damp day but not all that unpleasant – another to file under “glad we went out” and other platitudes reserved for grey days.
Time to move on from Hanter Hill to the round of the sights on Hergest Ridge.
Summit.
View from the Trig Pillar.
The summit pond.
The Monkey Puzzle Trees (forgot to take a picture of the Whet Stone)
We went down a different way along the western slopes of Hanter Hill. All very nice until the last few hundred yards where building work had destroyed the path and turned it into an impassable muddy mess. A walk over fields and along the road required to get back. Still a decent walk though.
Another wet and windy day with a clear afternoon spell had us out for another walk.
We’ve not been to the Begwyns for a while. In fact the Prof had no memory of the place at all even though he’s been up here numerous times. I showed him some photos (and its quite a easily remembered spot at the top) but its been wiped and deleted.
It was an odd afternoon of wispy clouds, blue sky and a ferocious wind.
Its a perfect walk when you don’t want any navigational complexities. Just an open access land of grass and bracken with numerous paths in all directions. We always park at one end then walk to the other end and back.
Choice of route is always a little different and this time we chose a selection of paths on the way out to stay out of the very strong westerly wind.
The summit circle of trees surrounded by a wall known as the Roundabout.
We’ve often stopped here for a break, picnic or cuppa but today being xmas it was busy and the wind made it far too cold to want to linger.
We wandered back, this time with the wind behind us which made for a really quite enjoyable winter stroll.
Another photo inspired by a TBF comfort break.
Pleasant pond of mucky water.
Setting sun.
I mentioned the Begwyns to a friend and what a fine walk it was. When he looked on the map he was rather disappointed to find they are a small range, low in altitude and only a couple of miles long. I think he was expecting or confusing them with the Berwyns!
Most of the people park up at the road near the Roundabout so the eastern end is always quiet
The grassy paths between the bracken are something to be savoured and the colours at this time of year in late afternoon are stunning.
A final golden brown shot of the bracken – shame its such a pain the ar5e when its green!
Seeing as we were unable to travel to warmer climes this Xmas and New Year we were left with walks in the UK. As expected, since our wonderful two days in Yorkshire, the weather reverted to type and things were largely grey and wet. We did manage a few sunny intervals between the wet patches though. Firstly a break between heavy showers on Garway Hill.
We were lucky in catching the sunniest period for a few days while we were out.
Don’t be fooled by the expansive blue skies. This was very much against the run of play as they say in football circles.
It was wild and windy up top, not a day to linger on the summit.
Our summer time visits when we sat on the top watching the sunset with a chilled glass of beer seemed a very long time ago.
At least the bracken had receded and was providing a welcome splash of colour.
The next band of showers was already under construction.
I always find the transmitter on the ridge to make a fine photo subject.
Fine views out over the Shire.
Looking back to the summit.
TBF on her way back from, well, I’ll leave you to fill in that blank.
Another day and another stunning blue sky day. What had we done to appease the rain gods.
Another big breakfast but earlier starts were planned and whips were cracked and we were on our way before – shock – 11am. A repeat of the walk we did a couple of years ago to take in Three Peak Number two for the weekend, Whernside. Hopefully with a view from the top and without a finish in the pouring rain.
We drove about a mile down the road (saves a bit of road walking) and started with some cracking views to our target and the impressive Ribblehead viaduct, complete with train.
Its a lovely path along the river and the railway line with views to the other peaks. Pen y Ghent here.
And the skyline of the previous day’s route to Ingleborough.
I always love a winter tree.
A much smaller band of happy hikers today. The majority went down to the Ingleton waterfalls.
Along the valley to Ingleborough.
Entrance to the Blea Moor Tunnel. One of an amazing number of engineering marvels of the Settle to Carlisle line. I really must travel on it one day.
One of the many waterfalls of Force Gill.
As we climbed it became clear the the inversion has spread up the eastern side of the country and was much thicker than on the western side. Here approaching 500m.
Our party had split with our intention to look at the Whernside Tarns which EWO had told us were rather nice from his previous days outing. UF and the Prof wanted no such extension to a walk and headed straight for the summit.
Their loss as the walk across the flanks was superb on a fine grassy path with amazing views over the Pennines and the rolling inversion that seemed to be on the move.
Panorama shot (click to enlarge)
One of the many spectacular viaducts on the line. The inversion in right of shot was actually flowing down the valley towards it.
Reaching the Whernside Tarns required a bit of heather-bashing and bog-trotting but well worth it. EWO was right, they are a wonderful spot.
I spied a cairn over on the edge so while I waited for others to catch me up I went over for a look. It was there to mark a spectacular view out over Dentdale to the Howgills and distant Lake District. With sun behind me it was a perfect moment.
Cairns always make a great photo foreground.
The tarns were perfectly still and would have made for a stunning reflection shot had there been any background to reflect!
Had the other two still been with us it would have made a perfect place for lunch. It was still calm and relatively warm in the sun. We had to push on to try and join them at the summit.
The views out over Greensett Tarn (I assume that’s its name as its not indicated on the map) were superb. The inversion was starting spread and flow down to where our hostel was.
Looking north along the edge of Whernside.
And south to the summit and beyond.
This guy spent well over an hour trying to take off without much success. In winter on a calm day I can’t imagine there being enough wind or thermals to make a decent flight. He did manage it eventually while we were on the way down but he pretty much just went straight to the valley bottom.
The views from the summit were as expected spectacular. The inversion was still in full effect.
We did stop for lunch but by now there was a light breeze blowing, enough to make things rather chilly. We were still feeling immensely pleased and happy.
We had to tear ourselves away due to to cold extremeties and a dipping sun. Compensation was, as yesterday, provided by some gorgeous light to further enhance those stunning views.
The inversion here seemed much lower as we were sure we could see Arnside Knott, Warton Crag well out of the cloud (each being only 500 feet high) and I was also sure I could see both Humphrey Head and the Ashton Memorial in Lancaster, both even lower. You could see the bottom end of the Isle of Man, just visible in the centre of the photo.
On the opposite side the inversion was spreading rapidly. Here providing a stunning view over Ribblehead and the viaduct.
Looking out over the Forest of Bowland. If you look closely at the middle right hand edge of the picture you can see a range of distant mountains poking above the cloud. It’s the mountains of Snowdonia (Carneddau most likely). I’ve seen them very hazily from the south Lakes but never from this distance or so clearly. I reckon they must be 80 miles away as the crow flies. Amazing.
The spectacular clouds even started to smother and shroud Park Fell. It was a wonderful show of nature.
The light become ever more spectacular and golden as we and the sun descended
I love this shot of the clouds and the viaduct bathed in that golden light.
More winter trees.
And the inversion starts to swallow Ingleborough.
As before as we reached the valley we felt temperatures drop rapidly. Sadly we missed close ups of the viaduct bathed in light but on reaching the hostel we were treated to this surreal light show of mist, sunset and the lights of Ribblehead. A stunning day day, if anything even better than the previous one, which is saying something.
Another fun evening in the hostel, spirits were unsurprisingly high after two amazing days.
We did manage another walk the following day to bag the the third of the Three Peaks, Pen y Ghent. However the cloud base was now more as expected and it was a bitterly cold, raw day. We did get a view from the top and its was still a great walk but not a day for photos. This was the only one I took.
What a magnificent weekend. A chance to meet up with many friends and share some quality time together which is the most important thing. The fact we had two stunning days of weather was just the icing on the pre-xmas cake. Likely we will pay for this luck for years to come but there you go, and who cares!
Warning – the next couple of posts will have A LOT of photos, many of which will be classified as “smug”.
We always gather together for a weekend of old and good friends every year just before Xmas (missing last year because of you-know-what). We’ve settled on the area around the Three Peaks in Yorkshire as there is plenty to do and the scenery superb. However we’ve rarely seen the sun and my memories are of rain streaked windows and grey skies. This year our luck changed – dramatically.
We woke to completely cloudless skies and distant mist settled on the valley near Horton. It was a stunning morning, one to really lift the spirits and we were out early. Well, we would have been had we not had to cook up a massive fried breakfast, eat it and then corral a seriously inept group of hikers to actually get ready. It was approaching midday when we finally set off.
Lateness and frustration soon forgotten on what was a truly stunning day.
We decided to head for Ingleborough this time, just a straight out and back to the top. Even the first stretch, cutting the corner between our home at Gearstones Lodge and Gauber, past the source of the Ribble was just a delight. There was barely a breath of wind so the sun still had a little warmth. Pace was slow with quite a collection of old timers, kids and their various partners. Who cares on a day this good.
Mark looking out to Ingleborough.
Three Peak number two – Pen y Ghent.
And number three – Whernside with the Ribblehead viaduct in the middle ground.
Up and over the Settle to Carlisle Line.
Views opening out as we climbed the steep slopes to Park Fell.
We’d hoped that the valley mists might give us some decent views as we climbed but we were stunned and amazed by the scale and size of the cloud inversion. Above is a distant Pendle Hill above the clouds.
Some of the large party on the Park Fell summit.
We took a route over some seriously boggy ground and took in Simons Seat as well, Ingleborough looming larger and yet more distant than we’d hoped considering the late hour of start time.
All the while the views and the sheer extent of the inversion becoming more magnificent as we progressed.
Mountains of the Lake District in the distance.
UF on Simon Fell.
Whernside, and, to the right of shot the superb edge path which was to be our return route.
Once we finally reached Ingleborough the true extent of the inversion became clearer. It was blanketing most of the NW and Morecambe Bay up to the Dales and Lakes. We had it on good authority that anywhere low down and further south was seeing a gloomy mist and little else.
As is always the case when you are above an inversion, the air is stunningly bright and clear. It was a remarkable day. Ingleborough in its isolated position was the perfect vantage point.
Ingleborough summit.
Smug selfie!
Close up of the clouds flowing through the valley.
I returned from my photo reverie to discover that DB Junior – again – had come a cropper and cut his chin open. It was quite a nasty cut but with so many people he was soon patched up (a later visit to A&E confirmed no major damage or need for stitches)
Despite a little grumbling through the day the advantage of a late start means some of the best views of the day as the lowering sun sets everything with a deep golden glow.
We all had to make a swift exit to try and get back without an excessive amount of walking in the dark.
With views this good it is very difficult to tear yourself away. The walk back along the edge path I mentioned was just amazing in the fading light. We managed to reach the road just before it got proper dark. Even the walk across the fields on a clear, frosty, moonlit evening was a joy. Some took my suggestion of a shorter walk to the Hill Inn where I’d pick them up later. If only it had been open! They had to walk a couple miles down the road in the dark but seemed happy enough when I picked them up at a different pub with large G&Ts in hand. I joined them for a quick pint to help things along.
What a truly superb day to live long in the memory. The map below only shows our return route rather than the outward one over Park and Simon Fells. Distance was over 10 miles in the end. Whilst a more leisurely stop on the summit would have been good I’ll take the grand breakfast, late start and late afternoon light as ample compensation.
I spend alot of my time surfing the web looking for ideas on places to go, walking routes, travel ideas and tips to plan the perfect holiday or day out. (I'm a project manager I like to plan). I thought it was time to share my own experiences and contribute to the vast amounts in information that's already out there.
I'll also add in some gear and tech reviews and when something irks me I may even use this forum to have a rant - I do that pretty well I'm told.There are a few pages at the top that give a bit of background to what I like to get up to and what you can expect to see in my posts. I'm not exactly a creative writer but I hope some people will find my stuff useful or inpsiring or at least enjoy some of my photos.
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